Namajunas won the belt with a first-round knockout of Jedrzejczyk at UFC 217 in November.

The 25-year-old Wisconsin nativetold reportersafter the victory her decision not to get involved with the verbal jabs leading up fight paid off in the end.

"This was a fight of mental warfare," Namajunas said. "I beat her at her own game. I think each time that I wasn't giving her nothing, she needs that. She needs somebody to fire back. I just wasn't gonna do it and I just stuck with it. It definitely took a lot of restraint on my end, it took a lot of control. It took a lot out of me to do it. But I knew that's what I had to do. I knew that's the way to beat her is to shut her mental game down."

It marked the rising star's fifth win in her last six bouts. The only loss during that stretch came to Karolina Kowalkiewicz by split decision in July 2016.

Meanwhile, Jedrzejczyk'sloss in their previous meeting was the first of her career following a 14-0 start that included recent victories over Kowalkiewicz, Jessica Andrade and Claudia Gadelha.

Her outlook didn't change following the upset, however. In fact, she doubled down on her combative style during an appearance in Shanghai, China, perFernanda Prates and John Morganof MMA Junkie.

"People who are saying I was cocky or arrogant, this is why I lost," Jedrzejczyk said. "I just want to tell you that I will be more cocky. I will be more arrogant. And I will be more loud. Because I know my value. I'm bigger than that night at UFC 217. Mistakes happen to everyone."

Their rematch will serve as the co-main event at UFC 223 alongside the men's lightweight title fight between Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov.